Certain African airlines remain banned from flying to the European Union (EU), the European Commission said in Brussels Thursday.
The updated EU list on air safety includes 295 companies from 21 countries that are prohibited from flying in EU air space.
African countries included on the black list are: Angola (with TAAG allowed but operating under strict conditions), Benin, the Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Gabon (with the exception of three airlines operating under restrictions and certain conditions), Equatorial Guinea, Djibouti, Liberia, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, and Zambia.
STP Airways (from Sao Tome and Principe) is prevented from flying in EU airspace, but flies to Lisbon, Portugal once a week using aircraft leased from Cape Verdean airline Transportes Aéreos de Cabo Verde (TACV).
The European Commission´s decision was made following a meeting of the EU Air Safety Committee in Brussels from November 19 to 21.
